CAPITAL INVESTMENT 

Netflix’s Black Doves was filmed across multiple London locations. Despite the city’s popularity as a filming destination, it’s becoming increasingly challenging, requiring more creativity, says director of photography Mark Patten BSC.  

In recent years, television has seen a noticeable shift in the portrayal of strong female characters. 

Michelle Keegan (Our Girl) and Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) have become emblematic of this trend, consistently taking on roles that challenge traditional representations of women. Now it’s Keira Knightley’s turn, playing Helen, a woman who is caught up in a passionate affair that threatens her secret identity in the six-part spy thriller, Black Doves. When her lover becomes entangled in London’s underworld, her employers send an old friend to protect her. Lensing duties went to Mark Patten BSC (Silo), who, prior to joining Black Doves, had “been enjoying the large format sensor size” when he could. 

“I’d been using mainly ARRI cameras, but for this project, I opted for the Sony Venice 2,” he explains. “We’re heading into an 8K world, but I didn’t choose it for the resolution. The colour science from Sony cameras has beautiful depth, and when married with Panavison Panaspeed glass—modified to reduce sharpness and soften the focal length—it felt just right for the project.”  

The series, produced by Sister and Noisy Bear, is shot entirely across Christmas and Patten says he wanted to create a distinct version of London that captured the essence of the festive period.  

“People are familiar with a traditional Christmas in London, so I aimed to evoke that atmosphere,” he continues. “At the same time, I wanted to add a fresh twist, using a muted blue tone for the Christmas scenes—something people immediately associate with the season.” Patten also notes that Netflix allowed them to shoot in a 2.20:1 format rather than the traditional 2.00:1. “It gave us more flexibility, narrowing the gauge slightly, which helped make the lenses work more effectively on the edges of the frame,” he says. To enhance the mood, Patten added a mix of colours throughout the episodes. 

On location

The family home at the heart of the story is meant to be in Islington, but it was filmed in Forest Hill. Located atop Crystal Palace, the villa became a key character, with its scale perfectly complementing the story’s format. Though technically in Camberwell, near Forest Hill, the location was intended to represent Islington, reflecting the rise of a government minister on his way to becoming prime minister. The striking villa added depth and atmosphere to the narrative. Nevertheless, London wasn’t the easiest place to shoot. “The city is becoming a very difficult place to film, especially when you’re using cars, as you rarely travel over 20 miles per hour,” Patten continues. “For any car chase, you have to think, ‘Where can we do that? Do we need to travel to Birmingham or film outside London?’ The Met has clamped down so much, and getting into central London has become much harder over the past four or five years. You really must make a strong case to film here. So, all the car scenes were shot in the volume at Mars, as it’s much more efficient to film driving scenes in virtual sets. It’s an excellent solution, and Mars has an incredible setup.” 

Despite these challenges, the locations department managed to secure some spectacular spots along the South Bank, making the most of London as their backdrop. “We wanted to capture a version of London that everyone knows, one that’s been shot a million times, but the real challenge was finding a way to give it extra depth and character.” 

London lights

Patten emphasises that a concerted and unwavering effort was made to ensure the series was as environmentally sustainable as possible. 

“The gaffer, Brandon Evans, was fully on board, and we shot most of the series using LED lights, even the big ones outside the windows,” Patten explains. “It’s a mix of these new digital lights, which have become the standard because of their controllability and precision when everything is sent back to the control desk.” You have your board operator with you, and then you just dial it in. It becomes a very fluid way of shooting.” 

The production adopted LED fixtures from a range of providers, with lights supplied by Panalux. Astera Tubes were a staple, alongside Nanlux’s Evoke 1200B, Aputure LS 600 Pro II heads, and Litemats for the larger setups. 

Patten has worked with director Alex Gabassi before, and they’ve always had productive discussions about how a scene should evolve. “He’s great at blocking scenes in a dynamic way,” Patten says. “Especially with Christmas scenes, it’s all about fighting the fairy lights. They’re always a challenge for me. I haven’t found a cluster of fairy lights yet that doesn’t burn out the centre. It’s really about using natural lighting—trying to emulate the muted tones you get through windows and keeping everything as natural as possible.”  

Patten adds that his favourite part of the series is a scene with Ben Whishaw’s character’s backstory, shot in the East End of London. “Ben’s character had a complex backstory,” Patten explains. “Growing up in a caravan, he evolves from a poor childhood into a slick, chameleon-like assassin. His transformation, shaped by trauma and travel, was key to capturing his temperament. After the trauma of his childhood, he ends up in Italy, and we shot beautiful scenes in Rome at dawn, clearing the Spanish Steps. Those moments really enriched his character throughout the show.”